This invention relates to a lightweight thermo-barrier material and more particularly a multilayer sandwich material for use as a thermal barrier in space reentry vehicles or the like and other terminal barrier applications.
Prior art thermal barrier material used in spacecraft and the like consists of ceramic or graphite composite structure, both of which are extremely fragile and easily damaged. Generally, due to the curvilinear contours of space vehicles, the thermo-barrier material generally takes the form of flat and contoured small rectangular tiles. These small tiles allow for attachment to curvilinear attachment surface and allow for individual repair or replacement when localized damage occurs. It has been found that during vehicle testing, handling, etc., these tiles are continually becoming broken and require replacement. During replacement, additional tiles generally get broken in the repair process, thus further increasing the cost of repairs and possibly causing critical vehicle flight schedules to be missed. The actual thermo-barrier material of the prior art devices have been substantially successful in isolating thermal transfer from outer surfaces to the inner surfaces of the vehicle.
There has not been an adequate lightweight high strength material for use as thermo-barrier structures, particularly in spacecraft environment until the emergence of the instant invention.